Childhood Sweetheart
by TheFluffMaster
Summary: With lingering regrets about forgetting her only friend Ruby after he had moved away for years, Sapphire tries to find sanctuary during summer break. So what happens when the very thing she's trying to get away from reappears before her again?
1. Chapter 1

**Alright guys, it's my first fanfic. I appreciate that you have taken your time to click on my little story, and I also accept any type of criticism. Happy Reading!**

Sapphire sighed gain for the third time that morning.

It hadn't really occurred to her until a few months ago about how life would be boring if Ruby were gone. Having moved away to another city, she was left alone, as she didn't really have any other friends she could turn to.

She sighed again.

Ruby and her had tried to stay in touch but it never really worked out. School and growing up wasn't as kind to them as they would have liked, and in their later letters, it was only brief chatter about the amount of homework that their teachers had piled on them, giving them little time to write back to each other. In then end, they had written to each other less and less, and now Sapphire was too shy to try and write one after so long, not wanting to seem desperate to Ruby.

It was also painful to have him fade from her memory. Having been childhood friends, it tore her insides apart as she could only watch everything about him disappear from her mind.

It didn't take long but his facial features had faded along with almost everything else. The next thing that she forgot about him was his hair, then his clothes, then his physique, the feeling of his palms when they held hands. One by one, everything about him had eventually disappeared. The only thing that she could do back then was to hold on to the little memories that they had shared together.

It didn't take long but his facial features had eventually faded from her memory as well. Followed by his hair, then his clothes, then his physique, the feeling of his palms when they held hands, even his melodic voice. One by one, everything about him had eventually disappeared. All she could do was try to hold on the little wisps of memories she had of him.

Sapphire smiled sadly, how could she not feel guilty. Who wouldn't? Forgetting someone that precious, anyone would feel guilty and she was no exception. It only made matters worse that she didn't have the courage to write back to check on Ruby anymore.

She couldn't help but sigh again, the guilt weighing her mind down clouding her mind with visions of Ruby disappointed in her. She quickly pushed the thought aside, her heart throbbing and her mind drifted to one of the few memories she had left of Ruby.

_"Hey Sapphire! Come on! You're falling behind!" her other classmates shouted ahead of her._

She was in the second night of a camping trip in the forest that her primary school had organized. After a tiresome day of playing in the autumn sun and running around, the teachers had gathered the other students and told them that they'd be taking a short walk in the forest.

The temperature had dropped drastically in the night, and Sapphire quickly took her mittens, not really bothering with a jacket, given that it would only be short walk. She breathed out and giggled as the chilly autumn air, frosted her breath over forming a small cloud.

"It's okay Miss, I'll walk with Sapphire to make sure she won't be lost," Sapphire heard a familiar voice sound out in the front.

She looked up curiously as Ruby nodded to the teacher.

His face looked obscured and his voice oddly out place as most of what she remembered of him had fallen into the tiny crevices her of her memory, probably never to be recovered.

_Despite his out of place appearance, he approached her and held out his hand out to her, "Hey Sapphire, if we don't hurry, we'll be left behind, and the trail up ahead isn't really clear."_

"Oh right, yeah coming," Sapphire cheeks dusted a light pink and she took his hand as he led her forward.

The time passed excruciatingly slow, each moment that she held his arm felt like forever, each passing second she was close to him, her insides turned to jelly. Everything that seemed to do with Ruby made her feel weird.

Sapphire frowned at looked at Ruby's back. He seemed perfectly healthy, nothing about him really had indicated that he was sick. Did he pass her some sickness? Maybe the symptoms only show under his shirt.

"Hey Ruby, take off your shirt, I think you passed me some kind of sickness," Sapphire demanded, jerking back Ruby's hand to make sure that he heard her.

Ruby's face blushed a dark crimson and he pushed her away before saying, "Sapphire? You're perfectly healthy, why should I take my shirt off anyway? You're the one who's sick!"

Sapphire pouted, unhappy that someone who she believed was sick would accuse her like that.

"Maybe you're sick in the head too! I'm going to have to split your head open too and check you! It's okay, my papa's a professor so I know what I'm doing," Sapphire huffed, her eyes shining determinedly to cure Ruby of whatever disease he had passed to her.

Ruby laughed and quickly took off in another direction, "You'll have to catch me first then!"

Sapphire gasped and huffed angrily, furious that her friend and supposed patient had bailed out of his check up when it was supposed to be good for him. She quickly ran in his direction, weaving in between branches leaves, only having his laughter as a guide to his location.

Finally in a last burst of speed she managed to jump and tackled him to the ground, straddling him. Sapphire pinned him down, trapping his hands and legs, before grabbing on to his shirt.

It was so weird. Sapphire never imagined that the annoying idiot that she had met up a few months ago would have become such a god friend. Believing that her life would have been perfect had she had a normal school life, normal friends, a normal job, and a normal death.

Alas, life was not so kind, it had to throw something to mess her perfectly normal life.

That was when Ruby, who was not so normal had waltzed into her life.

It had all been fine until that point in time, until he came. She still remembered, the first thing he did after introducing himself in front of the class, he had loudly asked her if he wanted to be her friend after taking his seat next to her. That was when her life went downhill.

From then on, he was impossible to get rid of. He stuck to her like glue and was practically impossible to get rid of him. Not even the prospect of following her into the female toilet had managed to shake him off, or calling the teacher on him. Of course, she had gotten used to it, and it took another few months to realize how precious of a friend that he really was.

Being a social outcast, it wasn't rare to see bullies trail behind her, and it just so happened that Ruby had been there when her seniors had come to pick on her. Despite it being out in the open, where there were other students, no one had come to help when they publically humiliated and insulted her.

Only Ruby had stepped up and asked them to back off, and even had a scuffle with them for picking on her. Even then, after getting her trying to protect her still didn't deter him from trying to become her friend.

Sapphire smiled, she guessed that he really was a blessing. She unbuttoned the first few buttons of his jacket, eager to help Ruby just like how he had done for her.

"Sapphire! I'm not sick! I went to the doctor last week remember? And my head is fine too!" Ruby yelled, his face blushing a furious red, as he used one hand to push her off, the other trying to protect the rest of his buttons.

"No! I'm sure you're sick and I'm going to help you!" Sapphire screeched, pushing his hands aside.

"Am not!"

"Am too!"

"Am not!"

"Hmph, whatever! I got your jacket off already, no escape now Ruby!" Sapphire laughed triumphantly, managing to peel off his jacket.

Ruby's blush darkened considerably and started bucking his hips to try and shake her off, while Sapphire couldn't help but laugh seeing Ruby so helpless for once.

"What are you doing!" they heard someone screech.

Both of them quickly turned around to see their teacher with their class trailing behind her, with Ruby still bucking his hips, while Sapphire straddled him, pinning him down.

"Hey Miss, can we try that?" a boy behind their teacher tugged at her sleeve and kindly asked.

"No!" their teacher screamed, her eyes flashing a crazy and confused look, unsure of what to tell their parents of what the two of them had done.

She took a deep breath and gestured for Sapphire and Ruby to rejoin the group, "This never happened alright kids? If you agree to never tell anyone what happened here, I'll buy all of you ice cream when we get back to school."

A loud cheer erupted from the small group of students and they were led inside again. Sapphire trailed behind again with Ruby at her side and they couldn't help but smile, they had a nice adventure together and they also managed to get free ice cream from their teacher.

Sapphire couldn't help but laugh.

Sapphire couldn't help but sigh.

They had seemed so innocent back then, it was funny how they never realized what they were really doing. She let out a sad smile, and flopped onto her bed, trying to keep her mind off of Ruby.

She lay back down, and grabbed her phone, absentmindedly swiping the unlock button at the bottom of her screen, her mind still heavy with Ruby.

"Wish Ruby was here," she stared forlornly out of her window.

Ring.

"I wonder what he's doing now," she continued.

Ring.

"Oh for Pete's sake, who could be calling now," Sapphire muttered angrily, somewhat upset that the caller had destroyed her concentration.

"Hello?" she gruffly replied.

"Oh Sapph? I'm sorry, is this a bad time," she heard a concerned voice come form the other end of the line.

Sapphire quickly lightened up and apologized before continuing, "Oh nothing Blue, just that it's summer vacation, and I was kinda sleeping in ya know? Anyway, why'd ya call?"

"Oh sorry for disturbing, but a few friends, Crystal, and I are going to meet up this Saturday to finish off our summer homework early, do you want to join?" Blue cheerfully replied.

"Hm? Oh yeah, who are the other people coming?"

"Just a few guys and girls from our class, no big deal."

"So where are we going to meet up and study?"

"Yeah about that honey."

Sapphire raised an eyebrow, readying herself for whatever was to come. Despite her cheerful and innocent Blue was the most devious, cunning, foxy, and sly person that anyone could meet, and the fact that she was using the word 'honey' when talking to her meant that something was going on.

"Go on," Sapphire said.

"Well yeah, see? Since no one is willing to have friends over at their houses, we're going to have our study session at your house. This Saturday, oh is that my mom calling, well bye!" Blue rushed before quickly hanging up the phone.

Sapphire froze. She couldn't believe that she had fallen for such a thing. She furiously redialed her number only to met with the dial tone saying that she wasn't available, the same also went for Crystal when she tried calling her for answers.

"Damn it, they were in on this together," Sapphire cursed.

Sighing again, she put her phone back on her table and rushed downstairs to see if her mother wanted to go shopping with her.

"Hey mom, are you free to go shopping with me?" Sapphire asked her mother, who was slouched over the couch, her eyes glued to the new season of Desperate Housewives.

"Sorry sweetie, we have guests coming over later for dinner remember? The new neighbours that are moving in didn't I tell you last week that I had invited them for dinner when they came over to check out the house. So I'm going to start cooking after this episode, sorry but I'm sure you'll need time to prepare yourself too anyway," her mother replied.

Sapphire couldn't help but roll her eyes as she took a seat next to her mother, "Who are the new neighbours anyway? I haven't really seen them yet, since you talked, is there anything you know about them?"

"Oh yeah, they're a married couple. If I'm not wrong, they're called Norman and Carol," my mother began before looking at me to see that I understood.

She gestured for her to continue as her mother lowered the volume on the television, "They also told me that they had a son around your age, he's going to join your school after summer. If I remember clearly, his name was R- "

The clear sound of the microwave resonated in the living room and they both turned our heads to the kitchen.

"Oh looks like my popcorn's done! Sapphire, why not just go upstairs and play for a while, you have an hour and a half before they said they'd come. I'll call you when they're here," her mother laughed, while ruffling her hair.

Sapphire couldn't help but roll her eyes and muttered darkly, "One episode my ass."

She stared blankly at the television screen as her mother went to the kitchen to get her popcorn. Sapphire frowned, she didn't really see how someone could have so much drama in their life. Life could be simple, everything would so straightforward, no troubles, no problems.

_Then again, if life had been so simple you'd never have met Ruby._

She sighed in agreement as a small part of her brain reminded her of her relationship with Ruby. Plastering a sad smile on her face, Sapphire trudged up the stairs, unwilling to meet the new neighbours, especially with her thoughts on Ruby still bugging her mind.

She climbed into her bed, trying to clear her mind. Her blank ceiling providing no comfort, thoughts of Ruby clogging her mind along with the soft ticking of her bedside clock, providing the only comfort in the whirlwind of thoughts.

The soft ticking eventually calmed her, drawing her closer to sleep, before she finally dozed off, catching a break from the loud and messy thoughts on her mind.

_"Sapphire!"_

Sapphire stirred, the voice sounded so familiar, and it made her heart ache. She clutched at her chest and wandered around an empty space.

_"Sapphire!"_

She whirled around to see a young boy standing in the distance, his face and body obscured by a light behind him. Sapphire quickly shielded her eyes, and craned her neck, his face almost showing, trying to find out the person's identity.

She titled her head, everything about him, his voice, his clothes, everything looked so familiar, the answer gnawing at her insides. She reached her hand out, straining to touch him.

"Sapphire!"

Sapphire jolted awake to see her mother standing above her, one hand on her hip while the other holding a ladle.

She lightly knocked Sapphire on the head with the ladle and grumbled, "Sapphire, quickly get dressed, they're coming in fifteen minutes. I've been calling you for the past ten minutes already, once you're done come down and wait for them."

Sapphire watched as her mother shuffled out of her door, silently closing it behind her before flopping back down on her bed again. She groaned loudly, disturbing the peaceful silence that had befallen her room. The dream hazy in her mind, skipping out her mind's reach every time she reached to try and grab it.

Grumbling to herself, she finally got out of bed and trudged to her closet. Fatigue wearing her mind down, she grabbed a pile of clothes and dumped them on her floor, too tired to select proper clothes. Grabbing the nearest thing that was closest to her, which turned out to be a pink blouse and a miniskirt, she quickly changed before heading downstairs.

It didn't take long for them to come, and in no time, she heard the chime of the doorbell, signaling the neighbours' arrival. Sapphire closed her eyes, wishing for the even to be over quickly, when her mind drifted to the conversation with her mother earlier.

_"Oh yeah, they're a married couple. If I'm not wrong, they're called Norman and Carol."_

She heard the door creak slightly and an unfamiliar voice greeted, "Hello, thank you for inviting us, I'm sure you still remember, I'm Norman and this is my wife Carol."

_"They also told me that they had a son around your age, he's going to join your school after summer. If I remember clearly, his name was R- "_

"Oh! The boy behind us is our son, his name is R-"

Sapphire scrunched her eyes, she focused on what her mother had said, remembering that she had mouthed his name.

R-Rufus? No. Ray? No, that's not it.

Ruby

"Ruby, come say hi to our neighbors," the voice finished.

Sapphire snapped her eyes open, her veins pumping with adrenaline. Jumping off her seat, climbing over the sofa and scrambling to her mother's side in an excited rush.

Stumbling beside her mother, she screeched to a halt, gaining the attention of everyone at the doorway. Huffing a hasty greeting, Sapphire quickly bowed to Norman and Carol and tried to discreetly look past them, itching to get a look at Ruby.

Never in the past few years had she ever considered that Ruby would ever appear before her again. Having absolutely no connection to her whatsoever after they had stopped writing to each other, she wondered if he even remembered her. What she looked like, what she used to sound like, her facial features.

Of course on her part, she had forgotten almost everything about him, and it didn't leave her feeling entirely fine about it, the guilt gnawing at her conscience every chance it had.

Shyly twiddling the edge of her skirt, Sapphire lightly blushed as Norman and Carol moved out of the way so Ruby could move forward. The rather unfamiliar figure stepped forward, his face, his clothes entirely different from whatever she could remember of the younger version of him.

"Hey Sapphire, remember me?"

**Alright, so that's that. I have the next few parts of the story coming along, and since it's the holidays, uploading will be no problem. Please do look forward to more chapters.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, he's the second chapter, and a quick shout out to Nobody's Hero, and novaking2832 for reviewing my first story.**

**I'd really appreciate it, if more of you would review my stories, to get some feedback and suggestions, and THANK YOU, if you do.**

**Now here's the story...**

Life had always passed over for Sapphire without much problem. Even when a problem did arise, it usually just passed over quickly, as though it had never been there in the first place.

Of course, life in all of it's cruel glory was never so nice as to have everything sail so smoothly, and true enough; an anomaly had finally showed up in her life. Such was how she viewed Ruby, an uninvited invader in her otherwise peaceful and tranquil life.

Ironically though, despite his uninvited presence in her life, the only harm that he had done to her was when he had departed from her life, leaving a deep wound in her heart, one she knew that not even time could heal.

Ruby's hair, the way he talked, the way he walked, the warm feeling that he always left behind when they were close. Everything about him had left a deep impression on her, practically having carved his name and everything about him on her heart.

No wonder it left behind such a bad taste in her mouth when she forgot everything about him. Even so, her peaceful and tranquil life hadn't seem that much appealing anymore, even if it was all she had desired, trying to get rid of the little blotch on her life.

However, life was just as nice as it was cruel, and had presented her another chance at filling the hole in her heart that she couldn't fill up, no matter how much ice cream she ate, or how many kittens she cuddled.

After many years that had allowed the small gap in her heart to widen into a wide chasm, Ruby had finally appeared in front of her once again. Instantly, she felt something in her heart surge, the huge chasm that had opened up overflowed with an emotion she couldn't quite pinpoint, making her heart warm and her cheeks burn up.

Sapphire could feel it.

The foreign warm feeling taking over her body, spreading throughout her body, making her body shiver in excitement.

Just seeing Ruby stand in front of her after years of separation, everything she felt for him, their friendship, the memories they had together, she pushed it forward into a single sentence, hoping that she would reach out to him, and restart their relationship.

"Hey, nice to see you too."

Sapphire screamed at herself internally, "That was all I could come up with? After all I felt? That was it!"

She silently chided herself and tried to shuffle behind her mother, too embarrassed to even meet Ruby's gaze. Just as she thought it couldn't get any worse, she heard Ruby crack up and chuckle, making her squirm and shuffle behind her mother even more.

"I see you're still as cute as ever Sapphire," she heard Ruby chuckle, before tugging on her wrist and guiding her to the living room.

Sapphire lowered her head even more, trying to hide her raging blush from Ruby. She quickly tugged on her shirt collar to cool herself off, hoping to ease the tension, but nearly choked on herself when Ruby tightened his grip on her hand.

Quickly sitting herself down beside Ruby, they sat silently across each other as her parents brought in a few more dishes and quickly set them on the table before taking their seats.

"Thank you for the food," everyone at the table quickly said, before reaching out for whatever they wanted to eat.

Taking in the sight of the feast laid out in front of her, Sapphire couldn't help but feel her mouth tingle in anticipation, the tender feeling of the steak already rolling in her mouth, tempting her hand to reach forward.

Gulping down her saliva, she hastily grabbed her chopsticks and made a grab for it, cutting in front of her mother who gave her a furious look before trying to knock her own set aside. Fighting silently over who would get the first piece, she heard Ruby chuckle in the background, and saw her father hide his face in embarrassment.

Ducking and retracting her hand, she smiled sheepishly as her mother flashed a triumphant grin before taking a chunk of meat back onto her own plate. Hurriedly grabbing a piece of her own, hoping to avoid another conflict with her mother.

"What's so funny?" Sapphire murmured to Ruby, trying to sound casual about it.

"Nothing, just that it doesn't seem that you've changed all that much," Ruby grinned, while slowly sipping some water, before continuing, "I still remember everything we used to together."

Sapphire shrank back, guilt jabbing her mind that she remembered close to nothing about Ruby and their childhood.

"You used to be so cheerful, remember the playground that we used to hang out at almost everyday after school?" Ruby continued.

Ouch, that took a huge blow to her conscience.

"Also, the ice cream shop where we first met?"

She felt a part of her soul chip off as the guilt eroded it away.

Ruby paused for a while, and stared at Sapphire, a forlorn look in his eyes, as though he was trying to recall something from a previous life. A glazed look dominated his eyes as he tilted his head, his expression softening into a sad smile.

He sat back into his chair and leaned in, before whispering, "Do you still remember the last place that we saw each other before I moved off?"

That was it, Sapphire shamefully hung her head, her conscience totally worn out.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't really remember much a-about what happened," Sapphire murmured, her voice dripping with guilt, as she twisted her face away, as though Ruby had slapped her.

Ruby stared blankly as he munched on a slice of pork before bursting out into a small chuckle, his face lightening up as though her not remembering didn't mean anything to him. Sapphire whirled around in shock, the disdainful reply she expected never came and hesitated to reach out and see if Ruby was fine.

He wiped away a tear away from the corner of his eyes, all traces of the disappointment she had expected no where to be seen before he answered, "I see you haven't changed much, you used to forget stuff all the time back then too. I'm not surprised to see you forgot."

Sapphire's cheeks coloured a dark shade of red and she ducked her head, hoping that no one else at the table saw the exchange between the two of them. Grabbing a slice of bread, she shooed Ruby away and nibbled, trying to shrug off her embarrassment but her cheeks still burned a bright red.

Itching to get rid of the awkward tension between her and Ruby, Sapphire scarfed down the remains of her dinner and gestured Ruby to join her in the living room once he was done with his own meal.

Collapsing onto the couch Sapphire breathed out a heavy sigh, thankful to be relieved of Ruby's company. Despite having been reunited with her childhood friend, it hadn't really gone the way that she would have expected. In her mind, reuniting with someone after so long, she had imagined it to be really dramatic.

Perhaps meeting after a long time, they could have met in a flower field, under a tree with the sun slowly drowning in the background of the horizon. With a gentle breeze blowing past, they slowly close the distance in between them, his ruby eyes shining just as brightly the setting sun. Finally they push themselves closer, their lips barely touching almost like a tease, before finally ki-.

Sapphire snapped her eyes open, her facing burning a furious maroon, until it almost felt as though it were on fire. Scratching her head furiously, she tried to shake her thoughts away.

As much as she had always admired Ruby for standing beside her, he never ever had seemed like a potential love interest. Even if he always was by her side, dependable, strong, courageous, handsome too. Sapphire gagged again, her thoughts drifting off too far for her liking as she scratched her head again, finding something else to focus her attention on.

"He's just a friend, he's just a friend, he's just a friend," Sapphire lowly repeated to herself, hoping that it would have some effect on derailing her thoughts.

Sapphire jumped to her feet, hoping that a little exercise would take her mind off her daydream, when she felt the back of her head bump into something hard. A dull pain throbbed at the back of her head and her hands immediately rushed to cover the affected area, as though it would alleviate the pain.

She whipped her head around, to see Ruby clutching his nose, his expression twisted into one of slight pain.

"Oh! Are you okay?" Sapphire gasped, quickly rushing to Ruby's side and checking his nose to see if there had been any serious damage.

Ruby smiled and nodded, but she noticed that his face was turning a light red and Sapphire tilted her head.

"Your face seems red, is there a problem?" Sapphire inquired, as she stretched her arm out to stroke his face, her thumb caressing his cheek, worried that he was hurt because of her.

"Well… It's just that, your face is really close, and that your hands are really soft," Ruby muttered sheepishly.

Sapphire froze and she felt her chest tighten up in anticipation, enjoying the fact that she was so close to Ruby, but too scared to move away. The air around them grew thick and tense, before Sapphire snapped out of her trance and jumped back but bumped the back of her head against a table.

Ruby shook his head and rushed forward to help, "Hey Sapphire! Are you okay!"

"I-I'm fine! J-just s-stay there!" Sapphire stuttered, her embarrassment dulling out the pain, her blush growing darker, threatening to engulf her face, "I know, l-let's just g-go to my room."

Ruby stopped and stared questioningly at Sapphire, a smile marching onto his lips.

"N-no! That's not w-what I meant! I don't want y-you in my room for that! But that doesn't mean I don't like you of course, I actually like you a lot! I-I mean not in that way, as in a childhood friend kind of way, but-" Sapphire stuttered, her blush spreading all the way to her neck.

"It's fine, I know what you mean, so you want to hang out in your room? I think our parents are going to cause us a lot of trouble if we hang down here," Ruby interrupted, saving her from any more trouble, and quickly muttered the last part.

Sapphire nodded and looked past Ruby's shoulder to see both of their parents peeking from around the corner. She quickly glared at her parents, and looked to see Ruby the same.

"Oh crap I think they've spotted us."

"Norman! Don't swear in front of the kids!"

"Never mind, let's just keep watching them, maybe they're looking at something behind us."

"We can see you, by the way," Ruby and Sapphire screamed, embarrassed at their parents for spying on them like that.

"Oh cr- no. Retreat!"

The four adults rushed back to the dining hall, leaving the two of them alone in the living room once again. Ruby and Sapphire smiled sheepishly at each other, both of the feeling that it would have been the wrong time to say anything.

A comfortable silence settled over the spacious room before the two of them quickly said, "Parents."

They both looked at each other, a mutual understanding passing through them, before they burst out laughing, not really caring that their parents had reappeared behind the corner to spy on them again.

"So to you room?" Ruby asked, finally settling down.

Sapphire nodded and quickly signaled for him to follow, and shouted out into the empty room, "Mom! Dad! If you spy on us upstairs, I won't help you with your research or go shopping with you guys for a month!"

"Aw…" she heard the sound come from the corner between the dining room and the living room.

"Same goes for me! I'll stop going with you to the gym dad, and I'll stop watching your soap operas with you mom!" Ruby shouted after her.

"Aww…"

The two of them chuckled as they headed up the staircase to her room. Enjoying each other's company, they walked closely, the faint creak of the floorboards as they shuffled through the hallway, until they reached her room.

"Welcome to Casa del Sapphire-" Sapphire haughtily laughed as she dramatically swung her door open.

She peered into her room, with Ruby behind, trying to look past Sapphire, trying not to be rude by asking her to move out of the way. Sapphire quickly scanned her room, only to see the huge lump of clothes that she had left on the floor when she had picked out her outfit for the dinner.

Panicking, she pushed Ruby out of her room, as he tried to walk past her when she hadn't moved away from the door, telling him to stay out for a while. Ruby quickly raised an eyebrow, but nodded in understanding as he cast a friendly smile to encourage her to get whatever she wanted to do quickly.

Nodding, Sapphire slipped inside her room and scooped the whole pile up, and shoving inside her closet, not wanting to keep Ruby waiting for long. Rushing so as not to keep Ruby waiting, she hurriedly slammed the door, not really caring that some of her clothes were still sticking from under the closet door.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Sapphire huffed, not really knowing why she was so anxious as to have a boy in her room, as she swung open the door, making a huge noise.

Sapphire stepped aside, her hair a tangled mess and her clothes left with the stink of sweat from running. Ruby simply smiled as he walked past her and spun himself around, taking in the sight of her room.

Sapphire sighed, her appearance a total mess after rushing and worrying too much about Ruby's presence.

"Hey, what's in here?" Ruby asked, as he stepped in front of her closet, before opening the door, to be greeted by a rush of her clothes that buried his feet.

Sapphire smiled bashfully and rubbed her neck, "Um… What I was trying to hide from you."

Ruby suppressed a chuckle and continued walking around her room, closely examining everything, before sitting himself at the edge of her bed, trying to be polite. Sapphire shoved her clothes back into her closet, after taking out another shirt and a pair of shorts.

"Just gonna take a quick shower is that okay?" Sapphire asked, as she gestured to her bathroom, her other hand holding her clothes.

"It's your house isn't it?"

Sapphire nodded, a small blush sprouting on her cheeks as she rushed into the toilet, not wanting Ruby to see her blush. She quickly undressed and stepped into the shower, enjoying the feeling as the hot water met her skin, as though it was washing away her troubles.

Sapphire sighed as she let the water run.

She hadn't expected a normal summer day to have progressed into something so troublesome. First her friends call over and force her to host them for a study group, secondly, her long lost childhood friend, who she just so happened to have guilty feelings about forgetting about him, suddenly shows up and ended up hanging out in her room.

She sighed again, she really wasn't conditioned to deal with such a hassle in her life. Sapphire turned off the shower, waiting as the last few droplets pattered onto her body, before exiting and drying herself and changed into the clothes that she had picked out.

"It's okay, they're probably just staying for another hour or so, just last a bit more and then it's sweet, oh so sweet sleep," Sapphire muttered to herself as she combed her hair and exited her bathroom.

"Hey Sapphire, you got a message from one of your friends while you were in the bath," Ruby pointed out, as she walked over to him by the edge of the bed.

She nodded in thanks and unlocked her phone only to see that Blue had sent her something else. Sapphire sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, preparing herself for the trouble that was going to come with the message.

_Hey Sapph! I felt sorry that I had dumped all that responsibility on you in the morning, I'm going to go by your house and drop off a cake! I'm near your house and I'll be there in around 5 minutes. Just wait by your window! See you soon, bye~~_

Sapphire smiled gratefully, glad that her friend had at least felt bad about suddenly telling her to host a study group. That, and she really was looking forward to the cake. She quickly glanced at the message and saw that it had been sent five minutes ago.

Sapphire gestured for Ruby to help look for Blue in case she was wearing something dark. She quickly scanned her backyard, then checked the main road, to see a lone figure skipping towards her house with a small package in the person's hand.

Sapphire stared at the figure, unsure of whether it was Blue and quickly tiptoed and stretched out of her window and waved while yelling, "Hey Blue! Is that you? Come over quickly! I want the cake!"

She continued yelling, and tiptoed a bit more, hoping that the figure she thought was Blue would hear her. She continued for a while more, and enthusiastically stretched out of her window, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person's face as she passed under a street lamp.

"Hey Ruby! You help too!" Sapphire excitedly said, "I'm sure you want that cake too!"

"Alright," Ruby replied, rushing to the window.

Sapphire didn't really know what happened next. All she had remembered, was that Ruby had tripped over his socks, and landed on her, their lips connecting as they rested on the window sill.

She could feel the warmth he gave off, comforting her as she deepened the kiss, pushing her body flush against his. Everything had seemed perfect, the noise around them drained away, the feel of their bodies flush against each other, the soft feel of his lips as she raked over them with her teeth, the refreshing scent of his hair, indicating that he had used fruity shampoo, the sound of a camera going off in the background.

Everything was just perfect.

Sapphire snapped her eyes open, the sound of the camera echoing in her mind. Breaking away from the kiss, she glanced around her room, and tried to pinpoint the source of the noise.

Craning her neck out of her window, she saw Blue with her phone in her hand trying to hide in a bush in her backyard.

"Hey! You come back here Blue! Give me that photo!" Sapphire shouted, as Ruby joined her by the window to see who the culprit was.

"No way sweetie, this is going on Facebook if you come down to try and stop me!" Blue laughed as she skipped to the main road.

"Damn it! I don't care! I'm coming down there!" Sapphire roared as she put her foot on the windowsill, getting ready to jump off, while Ruby just silently watched the exchange between the two friends, unsure of how to interject.

"Sweetie, I'm warning you. You come down, and I smash the cake," Blue threatened, a creepy smile plastered onto her face as she held the small cake box over her head.

"You wouldn't," Sapphire growled, her eyes narrowing threateningly.

"Try me," came the reply as Blue continued walking towards the main road.

Ruby just frowned at Sapphire, unsure why the cake was more important to her than the photo of them kissing being posted on social media. He shook his head silently and leaned back as the two girls continued glaring at each other, neither of them willing to yield.

Guess Sapphire hadn't really changed after all.

Ruby grinned and peeked out the window to see Sapphire's friend Blue place the cake box on the sidewalk and dashed off down the street.

"You going to chase after her?" Ruby inquired, careful not to tread on anything that would make Sapphire angry, especially after the exchange between her friend and her.

"Nope, Blue's in the track and field team, she could probably run faster than me even if she wore high heels, so it'd be no use even if I tried to go after her now," Sapphire sighed, resigned and put out, before plopping herself next to herself beside Ruby.

"It's fine, she's your friend, I'm sure she wouldn't do anything with the picture," Ruby tried comforting Sapphire.

Sapphire sniggered and replied, "Normally anyone wouldn't do that if they were normal friends, but she isn't really that normal I guess. I mean who would come over at 8 in the evening to drop cake off?"

Ruby joined her laughing, and let their worries slowly fade away in the happy chime of their laughter. All the troubles eventually melting into the cheerful moment, the laughter drowning out all their worries leaving behind the simple pure bliss of being in each other's company.

The laughter eventually died down and the two of flopped down on the bed together, not really caring about anything other than their own company, the feeling of bliss still fresh in their system.

"Well better go get the cake I guess," Sapphire muttered, a light blush graced her cheeks as she got up from the bed, and started for her bedroom door.

Ruby quickly reached out and grabbed Sapphire's hand, letting a silence envelop the room, before he said, "Hey Sapphire, it's kind my fault that we you know… k-kissed. I'll come over during this study group, my grades are decent enough so I'll also be of some help."

"Sure! I'll need the help anyway! Just come over on Saturday. I'm pretty sure I don't need to tell you my address now right?" Sapphire joked.

Ruby chuckled and let go of her arm, shaking his head in reply. Sapphire smiled back, grateful that she and Ruby had gotten to spend some time together, albeit the circumstances.

Sapphire smiled in return, and stalked over to her room and opened it, wanting to get the cake and come back quickly, when she heard a huge tumbling noise coming from outside. Curiosity overwhelming her, she opened the door, only to find both their parents sprawled in a heap outside the door.

Sighing to herself finally, she drew herself to her full height and glared down at their parents, an evil smile playing onto her lips as a thought popped into her head.

"Mom, dad, let's have a talk shall we? After our neighbours are gone," Sapphire chirped sweetly.

She immediately saw her desired effect, as her parents broke out in cold sweat, and scrambled to get up, only to fall back down in a tangled mess of arms and legs.

"Oh Sapphire, your mother and I will be out tonight, so behave won't you?" her mother stood up and quickly answered.

Undeterred she continued pressing on, "Oh, it doesn't matter, I'll make sure to _talk_ to you about this when you get back then."

Sapphire smiled one last time, and walked down the hallway, signaling that the conversation between them was over, and that her decision was final, leaving Ruby to 'talk' to his own parents.

Skipping down the stairs and into the driveway she quickly got the cake box, taking a minute to enjoy the cool breeze of the evening, a nice break from the summer heat.

Leaning against the lamp post outside, she sighed again.

Reviewing the day's events in her mind she groaned in frustration. First she was forced into hosting into a study group of people she wasn't even close with. Secondly, her childhood friend shows up after years of moving away, especially after she had just started to wonder about him. Finally, she was caught kissing him on camera by the very best friend that forced her into hosting a study group.

Slowly shuffling back to her house as she stared the ornately decorated cake box, and she caught a whiff of strawberry which made her stomach growl, despite just having dinner, "Strawberry… My favourite."

Opening the door to her house, she saw both Ruby and her parents saunter down the stairs, their faces somewhat downcast, as a fuming Ruby accompanied them downstairs.

"Ruby, here's the cake! You want to eat it now?" Sapphire yelled across the room.

Ruby shook his head and waved his arm in an apology, "Sorry, I have to go now, my parents want to unpack, and we'll eat it this Saturday alright?"

Sapphire nodded in understanding, as she watched Ruby herd his parents out the door, a scowl plastered on his face, probably still angry that they were spying on him. Waving goodbye one more time as the door closed, she turned around to face her own parents and smiled again.

"Father, mother, I believe we have something to talk about," Sapphire smiled, her malicious intent obviously showing.

It wasn't a peaceful night.

An hour later, after a huge scolding and a few threats, she had managed to convince her parents not to spy on her, when her friends and Ruby come this Saturday. Hopefully.

Flopping down on her bed, enjoying the soft feel of the mattress as it rebounded, bouncing her figure a bit, before settling down, Sapphire thought about what had happened, her mind still having trouble digesting the fact that Ruby had returned.

Her mind immediately replayed the kiss. His scent filling her nostrils, the feel of his body against hers filling her hands, all the sensations making her body tingle with excitement. She shifted her position into a more comfortable one, not really caring that a gentle blush had sprouted on her cheeks.

Sitting up, she glanced out the window, to Ruby's house, only to see Ruby staring back at her from the opposite window. Staring at each other, unsure of what to do, they both could only stare at each other, watching blushes arise on both their faces, the memory of the kiss replaying on both of their minds.

Quickly waving goodbye, Sapphire ducked beneath her window, her heart beating rapidly, her face sporting a raging blush, too shy to see Ruby again. With the scene of this kiss replaying in her mind, she eventually let the warm embrace of sleep come for her.

The week had passed by painfully slow, for Sapphire, and it only made it worse that she had to try avoid Ruby since the kiss. The only comfort that home had provided was that her parents weren't teasing her over it, since she had the talk with them, although with nothing to do, she was really tempted to go out.

Resisting the urge, she sat down on her bed, her fan blowing at her, tossing her hair in the wind, flirting with the loose strands of hair. She immediately wondered why she was acting so weirdly around Ruby as of late.

Just the mere thought of him, sent her heart racing, her pulse skyrocketing, and her face blushing a mad red. Wondering what could have caused such a reaction to her childhood friend, she had consulted her mother about it, but she only sent her off with a knowing chuckle. She hadn't dared ask Blue, in case she had misinterpreted as something else, only adding to her own humiliation since she had the photo of them kissing already.

Left to wonder about it herself, she had asked her dad, a professor, if he knew what she was experiencing a type of sickness of some sort, but he immediately waved her off, telling her she was fine, but with the same knowing smile as her mother. Not wanting to ask her other friends, in case they spread the word to Blue, she was left with no one to consult.

"I must be coming down with something bad," Sapphire concluded, as she paced her room on Friday evening.

Her stomach churned uncomfortably, anticipating the worse that her friends could throw at her, if Blue had spread the word around. Not to mention, she had to face Ruby, especially after that embarrassing kiss.

She sprawled herself on her bed, her mind unsure of how to answer the swirling mass of questions that she had concerning Ruby. Lying back down, she sighed and tried to get some sleep before her humiliation the following morning.

Sapphire lay on her bed, the dull ticking of her clock was the only sound that filled the room. She stared around in her room, her eyes sore from blinking throughout the night, with sleep evading her, she tossed around her bed, watching the dull neon lights of her digital clock contrast in her dark room.

Taking a look at the clock beside her she groaned to find that it was only 6 in the morning. Peeking out her window, she tried looking for any signs for the lazy crawl of the sun to show, when she saw a pitch black blanketed the sky, she rubbed her eyes and her eyes went to Ruby's window, only to find him staring back at her.

Rubbing at her eyes, to make sure she wasn't dreaming, only to see that Ruby's figure still there, but he was holding up a whiteboard with words scrawled onto it. Sapphire squinted to see through the darkness as Ruby lit up the message with his lamp light.

_Couldn't sleep? Get dressed, can I meet you by the sidewalk outside our houses?_

Sapphire nodded in reply, and gave a thumbs up in approval. Stretching her arms, she rushed to her bathroom, hurriedly grabbing a t-shirt and a skirt, hastily putting them on, and rushing downstairs, careful as not to disturb her parents.

Slipping past her door, she walked down to the pavement outside her house, to see Ruby sitting on the curb, wearing a simple t-shirt and a pair of shirts.

She sat down next to him and quietly muttered, "Thanks for offering to help me out today."

"Oh it's fine, that's what friends are for right?" Ruby simply replied, his gaze wandering the street.

Sapphire felt a dull pain stab her chest as he said 'friends', but quickly pushed it aside, feeling that she rather enjoy his company than worry about something so trivial.

They carried on the conversation for a while, talking about pointless things, just so that they could prolong the amount of time they could spend together, if not by a little more.

The time passed by in a blur, in contrast to the dull week that had passed by so painstakingly slow for Sapphire. Sapphire sighed in content, finally running out of things to talk about, they had sat in silence, basking in the bliss they felt, just being next to each other, staring at the horizon, waiting for the slow crawl of sunrise to finally show itself.

The sun slowly crept up from behind a house at the end of the neighborhood, casting a warm glow over the dull morning sky, lighting up their faces.

"Ah… Has life ever been so beautiful," Ruby sighed contently, before getting up and continuing, "Better get going, it's getting quite late… or early, I don't know, I'll meet you at your house in half an hour?"

Sapphire giggled and nodded, taking out her phone and checking the time.

"Eight in the morning, better get ready, the group should be coming at nine," Sapphire huffed, getting up herself and bade Ruby goodbye.

Rushing inside, she ran upstairs, ignoring the fact that her parents were peeking at them through a curtain in the living room. Grabbing another t-shirt and a miniskirt, she rushed in her bathroom and took a quick shower and got out, just in time to hear someone ring her doorbell.

Scuttling downstairs, she saw Blue walk in while politely greeting her parents. Making her way upstairs, she smugly grinned at Sapphire, a mutual understanding coming through between them.

_We'll talk about you know what upstairs._

Pushing Blue upstairs, Sapphire secretly glared at her as her parents stalked into the living room, giving the two friends some time alone. Roughly shoving Blue into her room, Sapphire fiercely glared at Blue, her arms akimbo and her eyes blazing with fury.

"So did you post the photo anywhere?" Sapphire gruffly asked, barely managing to keep her rage in check, trying her hardest not to blush, as the memory of the kiss resurfaced.

"No-"

Sapphire breathed out in relief.

"But, I did show it to the people who are coming today, but none of them posted it online," Blue chirped.

Sapphire groaned in frustration, "That's just as bad as posting it somewhere, now I'll have people teasing me in front of my face, instead of online."

"It's fine-" Blue began, but was cut off by the sound of the doorbell resonating throughout the house again.

Blue and Sapphire quickly nodded in agreement and decided to put off the argument till later and stalked down the staircase to greet the other visitors. Sapphire stumbled down the stairs but regained her footing, only to be greeted by the sight of seven other people staring back at her, including Ruby.

Blue skipped to the side of the small crowd that was gathered in her living room and cleared her throat, "Alright, Sapphire, these are my other friends from our class, I'm sure you know some of them but I'll just introduce them for the sake of your boyfr- friend over here."

Sapphire glared at her but let Blue continue to introduce her classmates to Ruby.

"This, our loyal and kind class monitor, Red," Blue began, gesturing to a boy with a red cap on, sporting a plain black t-shirt with a hoodie over it and a pair of jeans.

Red quickly bowed to both Sapphire and Ruby as a greeting and gestured for Blue to continue, "This is his childhood friend, Green, who refuses to admit that he loves me even though everyone already knows he does!"

Green just rolled his eyes and nonchalantly tried to hide his small blush, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Blue giggled, letting a small blush grace her cheeks as she gestured to a tiny girl that wore a sundress and a straw hat, "This little girl here is Yellow, she's our class mascot, being so cute and all."

Yellow's cheeks transformed into a raging crimson as she politely bowed, before running behind Red to hide her embarrassment.

"The loner guy here, is Silver. He's my own childhood friend, and currently single even though he's popular with the girls, Blue sighed in mock disappointment as she gestured to a guy wearing a trench coat and gloves even though it was summer.

Silver's eye twitched and he snorted in annoyance, running a hand through his orange her, trying to blow off the comment.

"This little clown here, is Gold," Blue quickly said.

"Why do I get such a short introduction!" Gold retorted, his cheeks puffed up in anger.

"I didn't want to waste my breath," Blue drawled, before cheerfully continuing, "This girl here is Crystal! She's the only other friend that Sapphire's made in her entire high school life, and she's also secretly in love in Gold," whispering the last part to Sapphire.

Sapphire chuckled, happy that she had some dirt on her other friend she could use to her advantage, as Crystal greeted Ruby.

"Alright, Sapphire, we've introduced ourselves, or I've introduced everyone. It's your turn to tell us who this fine young gentleman is," Blue smiled, pushing Ruby closely next to Sapphire.

Squirming on the spot she quickly stuttered, "T-This is R-Ruby, my childhood friend, and my n-new neighbor."

Flashing her an encouraging smile, Ruby stepped forward and bowed before saying, "Nice to meet all of you, I'm Ruby and I'll be attending your school after summer vacation, I hope that I could use this time to get along with all of you."

A murmur of agreement passed through the small crowd of teenagers as Blue squealed out, "He's perfect for you Sapphire!"

Sapphire slapped her palm to her face, too embarrassed to face Ruby. Nevertheless, she peeked through the cracks of her fingers, to see Ruby scratching his cheek, unsure of how to react.

Breathing out, Sapphire cooled herself down and shouted to get everyone's attention, before directing them upstairs to her own room. With majority of them sitting at the low round desk that she had placed in the middle of her room, leaving Ruby and Sapphire to sit alone with each other on her bed.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Sapphire sighed, somehow feeling that their sitting arrangement had been decided beforehand. Not wanting to start an argument with the others, having just come over, she quickly grabbed the pile of homework that her teachers had left her from her bag and walked over to Ruby.

"I'm going to need a lot of help," Sapphire said sheepishly, lying back into the bed.

"I'll be here, don't worry," Ruby smiled, scooting closer to Sapphire, leaning over her glancing at the worksheet in her hand.

Sapphire's cheeks flared a bright red, and she glanced up to the group using the desk, to see all of them staring at her and Ruby. Sapphire stared dumbfounded, realizing that all of them were in on some sort of plan to get both of them together.

Glaring at Blue as she flashed her a thumbs up, she quickly looked away as Ruby called out to her.

"Oh, I get this question, basically you have to do…" Ruby started.

Sapphire glared one last time at the group using the table, and diverted her attention to Ruby's explanation, trying to shut out everything else other than his company.

The morning had gone by rather quickly and without any problem. With the help of Ruby and the others who had come with Blue, she had breezed through her math and history homework, although she still didn't understand the majority of it, she was still happy that she had cleared most of her homework.

Happily humming to herself, she set aside her English essay, which she had happily written down while Yellow and Red had dictated it for her. Ruby sighed and plopped himself next to her on her bed, having just returned from teaching Gold why ten divided by five was not six.

"God, there must be a limit as to how stupid someone can be," Ruby muttered, frustrated that Gold still had trouble grasping the concept even after his explanations.

Sapphire giggled as she watched Crystal lean over Gold attempting to explain, only leaving him blushing and looking away instead.

"Sorry to disturb you guys, I've cooked lunch, would you like me to bring it up or would you rather have lunch in the dining hall," Sapphire's mother quickly said, as she poked her head through Sapphire's door.

"Mum, bring it upstairs please, Gold go and help her out since you're having trouble concentrating," Sapphire said.

Getting up and stretching, Gold flashed a grateful smile to Sapphire and disappeared with her mother down the hallway.

"Hey Ruby, I want to ask you something, come with me for a moment," Blue said, gesturing for Ruby to follow her out of the room.

Sapphire shrugged when Green stared at her questioningly, guessing that whatever that Blue was doing, they hadn't planned it. Fishing out her geography homework, she walked over to Crystal and asked her for help, taking her mind off food, and Ruby.

The food arrived quickly, as Gold and Sapphire's mother marched into the room, their hands filled with a few pots and bowls. Helping out to clear the round table, Sapphire and Yellow quickly set aside all the stationery and pieces of paper, to relieve her mother and Gold of the cutlery.

Quickly putting down the huge pot of curry and another one filed with rice, and setting out the plates and cutlery, Ruby and Blue walked in, finishing their conversation, his face somewhat red and Blue smiling pleasantly. Raising an eyebrow, she motioned Ruby over but he waved off her question, of what they were talking about, saying that he wasn't allowed to talk about it.

Nodding understandingly, since he had been talking to Blue, Sapphire grabbed a plate and scooped some rice onto it, trying to push her curiousity out of her mind. Scooping her share of curry too, she plopped herself on her bed with no space on the table as Ruby came over beside her and set himself beside her.

They ate silently, watching the others murmur among each other. Sapphire sighed inwardly, curiousity getting the better of her and she wondered what they could have been talking about.

Knowing Blue, she should have been trying to set him up with her, or some other girl for that matter. Sapphire tried to imagine, Ruby and her as a couple, but sighed frustrated, the foreign feeling jabbing at her heart.

Finishing the last of her curry, Sapphire sighed, not realizing that her cheeks had flared a bright red. Placing her plate to one side, she flopped down onto her bed, doing her homework taking its toll on her, even though she didn't really do much thinking.

"Hey Sapphire, here's the cake from that day, you said you wanted to eat it today," Sapphire's mother said as she entered the room, a large box in her hand, before continuing, "Thank you for all coming and helping Sapphire with her homework, otherwise she would have never done it."

Sapphire's face blushed a deep red as she shooed her mother away, while she heard a few giggles in the background. Turning around to glare at them, she grabbed the cake box, and pushed her mother before she could say anything else, after taking the box form her.

"Would you want to see Sapphire's baby pictures," she heard her mother call from the other side of her bedroom door.

Sapphire rubbed her temple as Gold stood up and tried to get past her and to open the door.

"Just go away mom!" Sapphire groaned.

She heard fading footsteps in the hallway and turned around, only to see her friends look at her in mock disappointment. Rolling her eyes and setting the cake down, her eyes wandered to Ruby as he chuckled and grabbed his plate again.

Opening the box, she used her fork to cut her a slice, before moving out of the way, letting the others grab a slice for themselves. Sitting down on her bed, she silently nibbled on her slice, smiling as Gold and Crystal argued with each other.

"How'd you find today so far?" Sapphire asked as Ruby sat himself beside her.

"They're a nice bunch of people, I like all of them. Red's been especially nice to me, and Green is so calm and collected," Ruby rambled, his eyes shining with a happy glint.

Sapphire chuckled and let him ramble on, as she let him continue while chewing on her cake. Placing her plate on the ground, and reaching for a napkin, she realized that all of the other's eyes were glued onto both of them as they Ruby continued chatting next to her.

Quickly averting their eyes, all of them turned around, doing anything but looking at them. Squinting her eyes, trying to scrutinize why they were doing so.

"Yellow is also like a cute little sister- Ah Sapphire, you have some cake on your face," Ruby said, stopping in the middle of her sentence, pointing at something on her cheek.

Sapphire widened her eyes in surprise and tried to wipe it away, but Ruby quickly pushed her arm away, and licked her cheek.

"There, better not waste the cake now," Ruby smiled, chuckling as Sapphire froze, her face burning a bright crimson.

The world had frozen around Sapphire; nothing seemed to be getting through to her. She couldn't hear the teasing laughter from her friends, she couldn't see that her mother had been spying through the crack on the door, nothing had mattered at the moment, expect for Ruby's tongue on her cheek.

Finally, when he was done, time went back to normal, the teasing laughter had reached her ears, she noticed that there was someone outside her door looking, but none of that still mattered. She slowly turned her head towards Ruby, her blush screaming at her to stop.

"W-w-w-what?" Sapphire weakly mumbled.

Ruby could only chuckle, as Sapphire shyly turned away, her blush growing stronger by the moment. Ruby tilted his head as though contemplating something making Sapphire peek through the cracks in between her fingers as she had covered her face in embarrassment.

Ruby furrowed his brow in concentration then finally said, "Hey Sapphire, want to go on a date?"

**So that's it for the second chapter, PLEASE leave a review, if not, just THANK YOU, for taking your time to click on my story.**

**I'll be updating soon, as it's the holidays and I've started on the last part of the story where they go on the date!**

**Do look forward to it, and MERRY CHRISTMAS~~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright guys, I'm sorry that this chapter took so long. If you want to hear my pathetic excuse, well then my laptop broke down when i was overseas so I had nothing to write with, and I apologise for it.**

**To all those who have clicked on this story, also a THANK YOU for taking you time to read this as it is my FIRST fanfic. Also PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave a review, I really would love constructive criticism but a simple good job works too.**

**Now to stop my rambling, and here's the story...**

Sapphire hastily scampered around her room, grabbing the huge mess on her floor that was her clothes and tossing them back into her closet. Extending her arm, she hurriedly checked the time and cursed silently that she was running late already.

Running to the toilet, she hurriedly checked herself and smoothed her outfit. Sapphire smoothed the creases on her ocean blue blouse, mixing in perfectly well with her eyes. Tugging at the edge of her skirt that was coloured a light shade of violet, she twirled herself in the mirror, and watched as the skirt floated and danced around her along with the wind.

Frowning to herself, as she halted to a stop, Sapphire quickly shook her head, deciding that she did not have enough time to worry about her appearance anymore. Scrambling back into her room, she hurriedly grabbed a small handbag from her closet and swept a bunch of tools that she could use to pretty herself up in a bathroom later on.

Grabbing her phone and wallet as she exited the room, her feet a flurry of stomping and running. Jumping down the last few steps, she hastily shouted a half-hearted goodbye to her parents that were lounging in the living room. Swiping a piece of toast from the dining table and sticking it into her mouth, she rushed out of her door.

Easily falling into a rhythm, she jogged on the sideway, her mind holding in a swirling vortex of emotions, questions and frustrations. Sapphire huffed as she ducked under a tree branch and sighed, frustrated, into the slice of bread, rubbing the bridge of her nose as the memory of the study date resurfaced.

_"Hey Sapphire, want to go on a date?"_

_"W-w-what?" Sapphire mumbled weakly, her mind immediately shutting down as Ruby stared at her, his expression completely serious._

_Sapphire blinked wordlessly, the air around them grew thick with tension as everyone in the room immediately silenced. Sapphire gulped heavily as she felt everyone's gazes bore into the back of her neck. Desperately tilting her head to look for any sign that Ruby had been joking._

_Narrowing her eyes, she shyly scrutinized his features, hoping that maybe a muscle would twitch, or he would wrinkle his nose, anything at all that would betray the fact that he was joking with her._

_"Well? Sapphire? Do you want to go on a date with me? On Monday? I'll meet you by the mall's fountain by 9?" Ruby politely prompted, and she could immediately not only was he serious, but he also wasn't trying to rush her._

_Arguing internally, she winced visibly when Ruby tilted his head, his eyes softening, a sign of hurt flashing in his eyes making guilt violently prod in her heart._

_"Yes," Sapphire sighed, "I'll go with you on Monday."_

_Ruby blinked wordlessly, his expression totally blank and his eyes showing a particular emotion that Sapphire couldn't quite pinpoint. Sapphire held her breath in worriedly, her mind reeling back in embarrassment as she thought that it had been a joke all along._

_A blush threatened to burst forth from her cheeks as she thought she had taken the situation so seriously. Silently watching Ruby as he wore the same unreadable expression, letting the seconds tick by as the air around them started to drip with nervous tension._

_Sapphire glanced nervously around the room, the gazes of everyone in the room still fixated on the pair of childhood friends. She shyly glanced back at Ruby, only to see his face crack into a huge smile that took up most of his face._

_Getting up from the bed, he rushed over to her side, wrapping both his arms around her and pulling Sapphire into a warm embrace, only making her cheeks flare up into a bright scarlet, as the room erupted into a loud cheer._

_With her mind hazy as Ruby continued hugging her, rocking backward and forward on the balls of his feet. Sapphire weakly pushed Ruby off her and calmed the rest of the group down and glared at the doorway as her mother silently closed the door behind her._

_Composing themselves, the huge study group settled down and set aside the plates and cutlery, with Crystal and Yellow bringing them down, while the rest resumed their work. Despite what Sapphire had believed, the rest of the day had gone by rather uneventfully._

_No one from the group had come up to her and blatantly teased her about her date. Not even Blue had so much squeaked about it to her or anyone for the matter, but Sapphire merely brushed it off, not wanting to jinx her luck in having them not tease her about her date._

_Ruby on the other hand, had tried unsuccessfully to play off his confession, but his face would flare a bright red and would recoil away from her whenever she came too close to him._

_Sapphire couldn't help but smile._

_She had never seen the poor boy seem so helpless. His mouth would flop open, and had desperately tried to avoid her, not really caring that he had tripped a few times and banged his head against the table more times than her two hands could count alone._

_The day had quickly ended, leaving Sapphire with less than a quarter of her homework less to finish. Smiling, somewhat satisfied, she stuffed her homework into her bag and followed Blue out as she gestured for her to follow._

_"Psst, Sapphire, I'll be coming over at 9am with Crystal tomorrow to pick out your outfit," Blue whispered as they exited the room, while the rest of the group packed their materials._

_"No way! I don't want any more trouble, I'm tired enough today with you all coming here today already. I'm pretty sure I can pick out an outfit for myself," Sapphire hissed lowly, her voice laced with exasperation at how Blue had relentlessly tried to involve herself in her love life._

_"Sapphire. Really? You? Pick out an outfit? If I didn't know any better, you'd just go and meet him in a hoodie and some sweats. Are you really going to show up for your first date like that, especially with your childhood friend? You saw how he acted around you? At least make this special for him," Blue silently reasoned._

_Sapphire winced._

_Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had already predetermined what she had already wanted to wear. A hoodie and a pair of sweatpants. Sapphire winced again; she hadn't considered Ruby's feelings after all. Even if she didn't like it, she knew that Blue did have a point._

_With Ruby having come back after being separated for so long, it was selfish of her to have ignored how he felt about coming back and meeting her. Not only that, what he must have felt during the dinner that they had shared, the courage that it had taken for him to ask her out._

_The least she could do was make it special for him._

_Sighing in defeat, Sapphire hesitantly nodded in agreement, allowing Blue to come over the following day. Softly smiling, as she understood Sapphire's state of mind, Blue just wordlessly walked past her, giving her a pat on the shoulder as encouragement._

_Shuffling downstairs, Sapphire quietly descended the stairs, the familiar feeling of guilt that she had been stuck with recently when she had forgotten about Ruby, poking at her chest again, making her mind weigh down. Sapphire meekly nodded while holding the door open, as the group filed out one by one, cheerily saying their goodbyes._

_Blue merely flashed her a smile and a look that reminded her Crystal and her was coming. The group quickly filed out, leaving Ruby the only one who stood by the doorway, as he froze mid-stride and shot a look at Sapphire as if contemplating something._

_The study group waited by her driveway, silently watching the exchange between the two, before Ruby cracked a smile and extended his arm to ruffle her hair, his features glowing with happiness._

_Sapphire felt the familiar guilt prod at her heart again, until Ruby leaned down and silently whispered into her ear, "Knowing you, you had planned to show up for our date in only a hoodie and sweatpants."_

_"Why does everyone know that," Sapphire silently cursed, but she could feel the guilt grip her heart, almost squashing it flat._

_Sapphire opened her mouth to apologise, the guilt pushing hot tears to her eyes, but Ruby cut her off and continued, "But it's okay. I asked you out not because I want to see you all dressed up, or cake yourself with make up. I asked you out, because, I want to see you for whom you really are. Nothing you do can ever disappoint me Sapphire, because I'll already be happy enough to just have you by my side."_

_Sapphire's senses jolted awake. Ruby's warm breath and the fact that he had quelled all her worries, ploughed away the swirling vortex of troubles that she held in her mind, as a mix of embarrassment and excitement shocked her awake._

_Sapphire lifted her hand to her cheeks, her face burning so hotly, that she could feel the heat radiate of her cheeks. Shyly looking up, she saw Ruby flash her another smile, ruffling her again, he stalked out onto the pavement and stalked to his own house next to hers along with the rest of the group._

_Sapphire cast another wave at the group as they slowly disappeared down the pavement, their shadows the only thing visible until they turned the curb. Silently Sapphire closed the door, as her friend's figures disappeared down the road._

_Sapphire groaned, the full force of the embarrassment finally crashing down onto her making her face burn up, as she slammed her back against the door and slid down, curling herself up into a ball._

_"What have I gotten myself into…" Sapphire muttered as she stalked upstairs to her and flopped down onto her bed, letting sleep claim her._

_Sapphire woke to a start next morning, as she felt something cold slide down her back. Jumping off of her bed, she reached to the back of her shirt, only to pull out an ice cube._

_Glaring at the two other figures that stood smiling sheepishly at her in her room. Sighing exasperatedly as she stood up and went to address her friends._

_"You know, you could have just woken me up normally you know," Sapphire grumbled at Blue and Crystal._

_"We tried, you didn't wake up even if we played songs next to your ear. You sleep heavier than Gold during lesson," Crystal nonchalantly replied, while examining her bedside clock._

_Sapphire giggled at the analogy, especially since it came from Crystal herself._

_"How do you know what Gold does in class anyway?" Sapphire teased, as she got up and stalked to her closet._

_"S-shut up, t-that's none of y-your b-business," Crystal muttered, her cheeks dusting a light pink._

_"Why so touchy?" Blue teased again._

_Crystal simply pouted in response, and sat on Sapphire's bed as she grabbed a few clothes and sauntered into her bathroom to freshen up. Breezing through her shower and quickly putting a plain black t-shirt and a pair of shorts._

_Making her way to her room, she watched amusedly as her friends stroller around her room, checking for anything embarrassing to use against her._

_"I'm over here by the way" Sapphire laughed._

_Dropping a photo album, Blue straightened up and hit her head against the tableside, while Crystal who was examining a photo, fell back onto the floor. Groaning as the two of them got up, they hurriedly muttered a hasty apology, before pulling her wrist and dragging out of her door._

_Muttering their thanks to her mother for lending her to them, Sapphire watched as her two friends, wordlessly continued to drag her out of her door and onto the road. She faintly heard her mother scream goodbye from somewhere, but she brushed it off as the wind talking as her friends broke into a full out sprint, leaving Sapphire struggling to catch up with her friends that were in the track and field team._

_Finally screeching to a halt just outside the nearby mall, they let go of Sapphire who stumbled and collapsed into a heap of sweat and panting. Shakily getting up, she struggled and stumbled after her friends, into the cool comfort of the towering structure._

_Sighing contently when she felt the cooling blast of wind that rushed to her face as Sapphire stepped through the entrance. Soaking in the crisp air con of the mall, she fell into step with her friends, as they rushed to the first shop on their left, not giving Sapphire any time to rest._

_"So you guys still haven't told me the plan for today. How are we going to go about getting me an outfit?" Sapphire huffed, hastily catching a shirt that Crystal had thrown at her._

_"We'll just go through all the shops here in the mall. All six floors in the mall," both Crystal and Blue nonchalantly replied._

_Sapphire huffed, biting back a snappy reply as Ruby's face popped up in her mind._

_"For Ruby. Even if he said anything is fine. I'll do this for him," Sapphire murmured resolutely, her eyes burning with the intention of making it the best date for Ruby._

_Gripping the pile of clothes that her friends had piled up for her, Sapphire slowly made her way to the changing room, snickering as she passed a sign that stated only three garments at a time were allowed._

_Picking a random shirt from the pile, she smiled warmly to herself. As much as the idea of going through piles of clothes like this for six floors worth of shops, she had to admit; it was fun, not to mention, she had the somewhat wonderful company of her two friends._

_"Let's get this over with," Sapphire chuckled, hurriedly pulling the shirt over her head._

_The rest of the day had gone by in a similar fashion. Shop after shop, floor after floor, neither of her friends willing to yield to her demands of taking a break with the exception of lunch that mainly consisted of cake and tea._

_Not really filling._

_Sapphire gripped her abdomen as she heard her stomach growl loudly protest. Sighing in agreement, she trudged mechanically, her muscles screaming at her to put the large mound of shopping bags and rest her aching muscles._

_Shifting her grip on the bags she called out to her friends who were silently walking in front of her, "So which of these outfits should I wear tomorrow? You bought quite a bit of them."_

_Crystal looked back hesitantly and elbowed Blue, who just silently shook her head and looked away, a fishy expression quickly flitting across her face, before it melted back into a stoic expression._

_"These are for me… right?" Sapphire carefully asked, her arm twitching ready to grab either of her friends should they make a run._

_"Ha ha ha… Sapphire, what a weird way to make a joke," Blue laughed, trying to cover up the fact that she flinched._

_"You idiots," Sapphire growled dropping the bags and reaching out to grab both of their collars, "I paid for almost half of this pile."_

_"We're so sorry. I promise we'll pay you back. We just couldn't find anything that suited you," Crystal squeaked, her arms flying to cover her face while Blue just gaped at Crystal, her expression suggesting that she didn't have enough money to pay her back._

_Sapphire smirked, a feral grin playing onto her lips, "That won't be enough."_

_Crystal squeaked again, panic evidently making its way onto her dainty features, "I-I'm sorry! I promise we won't stalk you on your date and video tape you guys like we planned to."_

_Blue looked at Crystal again, her mouth hanging open freely as she smiled sheepishly at Sapphire, a guilty blush burning her cheeks, scrambling for a reply that would satisfy Sapphire, as she felt her glare burn through her eyes, drilling into her soul, "I'll buy you cookies?"_

_"What! You idiots planned to something like that! What am I supposed to wear tomorrow anyway?" Sapphire growled, her voice holding a dangerous edge, making her friends flinch._

_"We're sorry, we're sorry, we're sorry," Blue and Crystal both squeaked out in apology, their voices growing softer with each 'sorry', as Sapphire kept her gaze fixated on the two, unnerving them and had them rooted to the spot, even though Sapphire had already released her grip._

_Softening her gaze, she quickly threatened them to pay her back and not to stalk her on her date. Sighing exasperatedly as she dismissed her friends and watched them grab the bags and hastily waved goodbye, not wanting to anger their friend into doing anything irrational._

_Sapphire winced inwardly as she realized that she still didn't have a proper outfit that would do her date with Ruby justice. Picking herself up, she began the short trek home, her mind going through whatever she could remember her wardrobe held and wondered what could pass off as acceptable to a date._

_Sapphire sighed and scratched her head furiously, sending her hair into a flying tangled mess. Ignoring her mother's question as to why she had nothing with her, Sapphire trudged up to her room and shut her door._

_Sapphire shut her eyes; images of what a date would be like immediately flooding her mind. Meeting up together. Going for a movie. Having a picnic. Playing games. Walking home. And finally, a goodbye kiss._

_Sapphire's felt her heart flutter and a her cheeks tinted a bright red, a weird and foreign feeling jab at her heart, sending her pulse skyrocketing, and her heart racing. Blinking wildly, the only thing that she could see was Ruby, everything about him came into focus until she believe that he was just next to her._

_His scent filled her nostrils, the warm feeling of his palms that slide and fit perfectly into hers, like two pieces of a puzzle, only making the feeling grow stronger, letting it overflow as more images poured into her head._

_Both of them on their first date, then them on their wedding day, them having kids, them growing old together. All the images swirling in her mind, the feeling overpowering her senses, sending her brain into a frenzy, with Ruby being in the center of all of it._

_Dizzily getting up, the emotion lingering in her head, as she stumbled into her toilet to check herself in the mirror. Slowly looking at herself, Sapphire sized herself up, looking in mild surprise at her expression._

_A blush dominated her features, making her whole face a bright scarlet. Her mouth had curled up into a slight smile, her lips quivering in what she could tell was excitement and the foreign feeling. Her eyes._

_Dear god, her eyes._

_Her eyes were shrouded in a hazy allure, but her eyes had never seem so alive. The dark sapphire colour that tinted her eyes, shined brightly, holding a magnificent glint to them, enrapturing even herself as she gazed into her own pupils._

_Sapphire continued gazing at her reflection, as her arm shakily reached out to stroke her cheeks, only to confirm her suspicions._

_Tears._

_Sapphire hurriedly blinked them away, but she could immediately tell. They were happy tears; seeing Ruby together with her, no. Just seeing Ruby alone in her daydream, had sent her mind to an all time high that she had never though she could reach without the help of drugs._

_Sapphire gulped as the familiar feeling pounded strongly in her chest, unwilling to yield or diminish, but strangely, it felt so right. Everything about Ruby had triggered the weird emotion. Being with him, his voice, even his name, sent her heart pounding and letting the emotion run wild, giving her the bliss that only he could make her feel._

_Sapphire gulped, the muddled blob that her mind had been reduced to, finally clearing, only to show one word._

_Watching her reflection, Sapphire watched as her cheeks coloured a bright electric crimson. She screamed halfheartedly internally at herself, as she brought up her hand to try and hit some common sense into herself, until she heard the familiar ring tone on her phone, signaling that someone had texted her._

_Snapping out of the dreamy daze, Sapphire hastily reached into her purse, all thoughts on her purse immediately were banished from her mind, her thoughts only focusing on her phone._

_Unknown number._

_Sapphire frowned and unlocked her phone, curiousity gnawing at the edge of her mind._

Hey Sapphire, it's me Ruby. I got your number from Blue yesterday. Just wanted to let you know, meet me up by the café, Pokemon Center, in Veilstone Shopping Mall. Look forward to it! I'm going to make this special~

_ Reading through the text, Sapphire felt the emotions come crashing down onto her again. Cramming the poor device back into her purse, Sapphire rushed back to her bed, jumping on it, as if the springy mattress would provide any sort of comfort from the onslaught of feelings that rushed at her._

_With her heart still pounding, she let the image of Ruby slowly soothe her thoughts and let her drop noiselessly into the comforting depths of sleep._

_Sapphire continued jogging as the memory melted away from her mind, replaced with the goal of reaching the café that she had promised to meet Ruby in._

Rushing into the mall square, Sapphire huffed as she halted just before the café that they had agreed to meet in. Roughly checking outside the store to see if Ruby had been waiting outside.

Scanning the area one more time, she still couldn't find the familiar figure of her childhood friend, so Sapphire decided to wait in the café for him, and rest her aching feet. She slowly turned around and stretched, only to come face to face with her reflection.

Tilting her head as she checked herself using the window of the café as a mirror, Sapphire silently swept her hair, using her hands to comb through her brow locks and smoothed out her outfit. Twirling around gain, she watched somewhat satisfied as her skirt flied up. Frowning at herself, Sapphire tried placing her hands behind her back, twisting her face into a gentle smile.

Cracking her eyes open slowly, she let her eyes trail over her reflection, when she saw a shadow near the bottom of her leg. Looking closer at the window, she found Ruby staring back at her in a seat, his face blushing a furious red.

Blinking furiously, Sapphire hid her face behind her hands, rushing into the café and sliding into the booth opposite Ruby, she collapsed silently, banging her head softly against the edge of the table.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot," Sapphire softly berated herself, as she peeked at Ruby who just cheekily smiled back.

"What would you like to order miss," a waitress kindly smiled, her voice holding a teasing edge to it.

Feeling her face heat up even more she hit herself against the edge of the table again feeling abashed that other people had noticed their earlier exchange.

"Um… Just a coffee," Sapphire softly replied, her embarrassment refusing to let her voice go any louder.

Ruby just murmured to the waitress that he also wanted a coffee, and fought the urge to blush further as she giggled at the both of them. Groaning inwardly, Sapphire slumped her shoulders, her mind growing tired with the torrent of teasing that she had to endure the past few days.

Silently thanking the waitress who just winked in response, both of them awkwardly sipped their coffee as she brought two cups for both of them. The atmosphere screaming at both of them for something to lighten it up.

"Hey Sapphire, I was thinking, you want to catch a movie?" Ruby asked, smiling sheepishly.

Sapphire nonchalantly shrugged, silently sipping her coffee, which was a signal to tell him that she would be fine with anything. Watching wordlessly as he smiled thankfully, a layer of froth lingering on the top of his lip as he lifted the cup after drinking. Struggling not to choke on the broth, Sapphire felt laughter bubble in her throat, before finally bursting into hysterics.

Gazing across from the table, Sapphire stared in mild surprise as she saw Ruby laughing along with her, his face lighting up with ecstasy. Raising a curious eyebrow, she watched as Ruby leaned over the table and licked the top of her lip.

"R-R-Ruby! Not again! What was that for?" Sapphire screamed, her face burning a bright crimson, as she weakly reached out to punch Ruby on his shoulder.

Ruby just merely chuckled cheekily and reached over again, his face dangerously close to Sapphire's as he stuck his tongue out, licking her lip again while softly nibbling her lip and kissed the tip of her nose.

"You got some foam on your lip," Ruby finally replied.

Sapphire's face burned a darker red, disbelief gnawing at her mind, that Ruby would do something so embarrassing to her just because of something like foam.

Puffing her cheeks up in playful anger, Sapphire huffed out, "So do you, come here, I'll lick it off you too."

Ruby looked up in surprise, his arm touching the foam on his lip, as Sapphire leaned in, her tongue sticking out playfully. Chuckling Ruby licked her own tongue before grabbing a tissue and wiping his mouth.

Sapphire gaped, her tongue sticking out comically from the corner of her mouth as Ruby casually continued sipping his coffee. Chuckling lightly as Ruby set down his cup, Sapphire slowly sat back down, and the teasing stares of everyone else in the café finally weighing down on her.

A low hush of chuckling set over the small café, the noise creeping into Sapphire's mind shutting down all of her other brain processes leaving only Ruby's face pounding at her. Gulping the last of her coffee, Sapphire watched as the waitress earlier silently marched up to them, placing the bill wordlessly at the edge of the table.

Shyly peeking up, Sapphire saw the waitress stoop down, her expression beckoning the both of them closer to her.

"Here, I have a voucher that you can exchange for two tickets for any movie in the movie center on the fifth floor. A friend gave it to me, but I believe that you two can put it to better use," the waitress said, a bit too loud for Sapphire's comfort.

Looking up as a small cheer of agreement erupted from the small number of customer in the early morning, Sapphire's cheeks burst into another shade of red.

Shifting her gaze to Ruby, she saw him try to politely refuse the voucher as the waitress waved it in front of him. Pouting, the waitress handed it to Sapphire, saying that she knew what she was doing and stalked off into the kitchen, without letting her reply.

Gazing dumbfounded, at each other, the pair shakily got up to their feet and attempted to exit the store before someone from the café shouted, "I hope your relationship works out!"

"Go get her!"

"Give me a video of your date!"

"You look so cute together!"

Smiling sheepishly, Ruby simply waved at the café, while Sapphire ducked her face burning a bright red, especially at the last comment, the weird feeling coming back again washing over her.

Pulling on her hand, Ruby dragged her out the café, leaving the shouts of the other customers behind. Turning a corner, he continued dragging her, the soft feeling of his palms the only thing that occupied her mind as he brought her to a stop at the elevator.

"What movie do you want to watch?" Ruby asked abruptly as they both stepped into the elevator.

Sapphire simply shrugged, telling Ruby that she was fine with whatever he picked as her palm tingled where he had held her as the elevator lurched to a stop. Hurriedly stepping out of the elevator, Sapphire fell into step with Ruby as he made his way to the movie theater.

Standing idly by the side, she watched as a number of people streaming into the movie theater as Ruby went to get tickets. Tilting her head, she closely examined the group of people that filed into the complex and she noticed that they were all couples.

Frowning inwardly as the foreign feeling poked at her heart again when the image of Ruby and her being a couple popped into her mind. Sighing inwardly, Sapphire stretched, her eyes trained on the convenient onrush of couples.

"Jealous of them? Why not we act like a couple together?" Ruby teased, his breath tickling her ear.

Jumping back, Sapphire squeaked in surprise and pouted, quickly replying, "W-w-well, w-w-we're on a d-date, r-right? S-so I-I t-though i-it was standard?"

Sapphire sighed inwardly again, the feeling overflowing in her heart, a sudden surge of happiness accompanying it.

"It can't be so bad, for both of us to pretend to be a couple right? Might as well play along with this feeling," Sapphire thought to herself.

Looking at her in genuine surprise, Ruby chuckled heartily as he came closer, wrapping his arm around her waist as he leaned closer, his warm breath teasing her ear again.

"I guess you're right, we are a couple after all," he huskily whispered into her ear, sending electrifying shivers up her spine.

Bringing himself to his full height, he smiled and said, "We'll be watching an action film I've been really looking forward to. I hope you don't mind. I'll be buying some popcorn and soda, can you wait for me here?"

Sapphire nodded her head mechanically, the blush and Ruby's reply dominating her mind. Grinning at her, he stalked off to the booth selling snacks as she silently waited for him to return.

"Sapphire let's go in!" Ruby yelled, gesturing to the entrance of one of the movies.

Rushing inside, they were ushered to their seats somewhere in the back, with the best seats as the movie started.

Sapphire stared blankly at the screen, half an hour into the movie. Scowling as the screen flashed brightly when the helicopter exploded. That was all helicopters did in movies.

Explode.

But that was exactly what her wanted to do. Explode. Sitting next to Ruby had already sent her pulse racing, and her cheeks were blushing a dull scarlet, everything adding up such that despite the blaring lights and ear-shredding sound system, all her mind could focus on was Ruby.

Sapphire had also tried desperately to avoid every romantic comedy cliché she could think of. But alas, with life so cruel as it was, things didn't go her way.

When her attention had been drawn to the movie, and with her guard down. She just had to reach in to the popcorn, the same time as Ruby, the feel of his hand running over hers sent shivers up her spine as she retracted her hand hastily.

Having finished one soda halfway through the movie, they had decided to share the last one with two straws. Leaning in sideways to drink from the carbonated goodness, she had accidentally bumped into Ruby's head when he had also leaned to take a sip. Trying to apologise in their haste, they hurriedly turned around which only had them brush their lips against each other.

A few minutes later, with a raging blush, and a hesitance to take a sip, Sapphire merely took the whole cup from the holder and sipped from a straw only to realize that she had drunk from Ruby's.

"Indirect kiss," Sapphire murmured, her heart fluttering in the tight confines of her chest, only to get a response as Ruby chuckled heartily next to her.

Thus the movie ended.

Glaring icily at Ruby as both of them exited the movie theater, Ruby just shrugged off her glare with a chuckle and continued pulling her.

"W-where are we going now," Sapphire muttered, her anger quickly dissipating as Ruby continued dragging her by her wrist.

"To the park, I just have to pick up something okay?" Ruby replied, a soft smile playing onto his lips.

Sapphire pouted and puffed her cheeks up in response, trying to shrug off the feeling. She watched as Ruby's lips curled up into a small smile, as he led her into a small shop clothing shop at the edge of the floor.

"Hey Wally! Did you get what I asked you for?" Ruby yelled into the tiny shop.

"Ow!" Sapphire heard a voice resound from behind the counter.

Staring around the quaint shop, a small sense of familiarity washed over her as she the memory of Blue and Crystal bursting in resurfaced. Looking at the boy that emerged from under the counter, she could also faintly recall how Blue and Crystal had managed to scare him, with their eccentric personalities and loud voices.

"Oh, sorry Wally," Ruby apologized, "Didn't mean to startle you."

Wally just waved off his apology and brought out a small basket with a checkered carpet that draped over the cover.

"Here you go, just like you asked. I see that you've finally gotten around to getting a girlfriend," Wally teased, as Ruby reached over the counter to grab it.

"No, she's not my girlfriend," Ruby said, and Sapphire could feel something in her heart chip away as he continued, "At least not yet."

Gagging on her saliva, Sapphire flashed Ruby a bewildered look but Ruby just shrugged it off and waved goodbye to Wally. Gesturing for Sapphire to follow, they hurriedly rushed out of the shopping mall; the warm summer air harshly greeting them, and Sapphire tried staying in the shade, already missing the air conditioning the mall had provided.

"Time to go for a picnic," Ruby laughed as Sapphire struggled to keep up.

Weaving through shady alleyways to avoid the scorching sun, they finally emerged at the edge of the park. The sight of lush greenery breaking away from the tarmac, into the edge of the park greeted the pair as a light breeze blew over the trees, creating the calming lull of the rustling of trees.

Slowing down to a slow walk, Ruby gestured for Sapphire to follow him as they dove into the trees.

"Hey Ruby! Wait up! You're going a bit too fast!" Sapphire shouted, the shrubbery being unusually thick for a park as she dodged a branch.

She heard Ruby laugh up ahead, "You'll have to catch me first then!"

Laughing to herself as a wave of nostalgia hit her, she redoubled her efforts to catch up to him, using his voice to pinpoint as to where he was running. Catching a flash of red in front of her, she leaped forward and tumbled into Ruby. Rolling over, Sapphire hastily pinned him down, straddling him so that he couldn't escape.

"We did something like this once remember? Want to pick up from where we left of?" Ruby teased, carefully placing the picnic basket beside both of them.

"H-Hmph, R-Ruby you i-idiot. I-I'm d-doing t-this for y-your o-own good," Sapphire shakily retorted.

"That's what you said last time too," Ruby laughed, "But thanks for stopping, we're here already."

Blinking away her embarrassment, Sapphire slowly got off Ruby, taking in her surroundings. They had arrived at the edge of a lake in the center of the park, under the refreshing shade of a large tree, giving them a break from the scorching onslaught of the summer sun.

"Hey Ruby, if this is the lake at the center of the park, why is there no one here?" Sapphire asked, plopping herself down next to Ruby's figure as he laid out a mat under the tree.

Leaning against the trunk, Ruby simply replied, "This part of the park was never really tended to that well, because there weren't enough people to keep it neat. So the gardeners just focused on cleaning the other side over there, that's why no one comes here."

Nodding understandingly, Sapphire grabbed a sandwich from the basket and slowly munched on it. They ate in silence, preferring to enjoy each other's company in silence, than break it. A calming atmosphere settled over the two as they continued munching on their respective sandwiches, only occasionally speaking to each other, but their chatter didn't even last long.

Gulping down some orange juice from a flask, Sapphire hummed delightfully as another breeze blew past, the gust playfully skating along the edges of her hair, flirting with her locks as they danced in the wind. Humming, satisfied, Sapphire cracked one eye open, only to see Ruby quickly avert his gaze.

Giggling to herself as Ruby smiled forlornly at her, "Isn't it so peaceful? I wish we could do this every day."

"We still have the rest of summer, just relax. It's so peaceful, I'm just going to take a nap," Sapphire sleepily replied.

"I guess you haven't changed at all Sapphire," she heard Ruby's voice fade as her eyes slowly closed, letting sleep embrace her.

Sapphire stirred in her sleep, shifting her weight slightly as she rolled around. Sighing contentedly as she snuggled closer into her pillow.

Wait. Pillow?

Rubbing her eyes sleepily, Sapphire groggily got up, propping herself up onto one arm. Staring sleepily at her makeshift pillow, she traced her pillow all the way to the top only to come face to face with Ruby's sleeping expression.

She had been using his lap as a pillow.

Sapphire screamed internally, the feeling prodding at her heart as her muscles refused to move away from Ruby's face. She argued against herself, her muscles refusing to listen and instead leaned in closer to Ruby's face, his features seemingly at peace.

Sapphire gave in to the feeling, all thoughts of resistance melting away into the moment as her lips were centimeters away from Ruby's, his warm breath tickling her nose as she leaned in closer.

Sapphire gazed at Ruby's features, a hazy feeling shrouding her thoughts. Leaning in once more to close the distance between them, she froze as Ruby's face cracked into a grin.

"Impatient now are we?" Ruby chuckled, snapping one eye open.

Sapphire snapped out of her dreamy haze, her body instinctively moving back, but Ruby grabbed her hand and pulled her in, gently pushing his lips onto hers.

Sapphire's mind burst into frenzy, the feeling exploding forth into her chest, everything else in her mind shutting down, leaving only Ruby and just Ruby at the center of her attention.

The fruity scent of his shampoo, the soft feeling of his lips, the strong feeling of his arms as they wrapped around her. Everything felt so right, so perfect and Sapphire's mind melted away into the heat of the moment, and with everything Ruby swirling around in her mind, with her emotions piling up and releasing everything that she had been hiding from herself at once, which only pointed at the feeling that had been haunting her for the past few days.

Sapphire was in love with Ruby. No. She had always been in love with Ruby.

Then, now and forever, would she be in love with Ruby.

Breaking away from the kiss, she glanced upwards to see Ruby grin cheekily as he rummaged into his pocket for something.

"Close your eyes, I have a surprise for you," Ruby yelled as he hid something behind his back.

Staring suspiciously at him, Sapphire agreed and shut her eyes, covering them with her hands for extra measure and replied, "All right, you better not be running out on me."

"Don't worry, I'm right here," Ruby chuckled, as she felt something press down on her head.

She felt Ruby continue fingering the thing that he had draped over her head, until she felt a final tug and the pressure of Ruby's fingers ease up.

"Done! I have a mirror, come and check it! I made myself all of yesterday!" Ruby laughed.

Slowly opening her eyes, she peeked through the cracks in her fingers and looked at the mirror in front of her. Dropping her hands, she took the mirror from Ruby's hands to inspect the piece of cloth that he had placed on her head.

It had a simple design, being only a nice sapphire with a cute design of a 2 semicircles and ball in the middle of it in white.

"What's the weird ball thing? And you made this all by yourself?" Sapphire asked, slowly fingering the piece of cloth.

"I thought it'd be boring if the bandana was just one colour, so I put something random in the middle. But yes, I did make it all by myself, I was the president of the sewing club when I was in another school," Ruby replied, sheepishly mumbling the last part.

"President?"

"I was the only member," Ruby grumbled, "I was the only one who joined one year, and when the seniors graduated, no one else was willing to join. But the teachers said that they'd let the club stay anyway, and I was happy being alone."

Sapphire winced at the end of his sentence. So Ruby had been alone when they had parted, she on the other hand had at least Blue and Crystal as friends as they had been nice enough to approach her.

"But now I'm back. And even for someone like me, you've been so nice," Ruby grinned, his expression somewhat glazed as a sad smile graced his lips.

Sapphire blinked, another feeling emerging from the swirling mass of emotions that tore through her insides.

Anger.

"Ruby!" Sapphire shouted, making the poor boy flinch and back away, "You idiot! How could you say something like that? Someone like you? What is that supposed to mean? You're amazing! You're smart, funny, handsome, loyal, caring. And most of all, you're the guy I fell in love with! So don't go saying something stupid like that! You deserve everything that has happened to you without a doubt!"

Sapphire glared icily at Ruby as he stared bewildered at her, his expression showing only shock, before his lips twisted into a smile.

"Love me? You, Sapphire Birch, am in love with me?" he asked, as he slowly inched forward.

"Yes," Sapphire firmly replied, not wanting to deny her feelings anymore, her expression stoic as Ruby came up in front of her.

"I love you too," Ruby chuckled, as he leaned in again for another kiss.

Smashing their lips together in the heat of the moment, her emotions bursting forth like a fireworks display, lighting a happy feeling to her heart as she hummed delighted, into the kiss.

Breaking away from the kiss, she smiled at Ruby, "You'll always be my one and only childhood sweetheart."

**Thank you all for reading this story, and unfortunately this is the end of it... for now.**

**I'm not exactly going to start on the sequel for this just yet for 3 reasons, for those of you who want to know.  
1)I want to let my reputation here snowball into something bigger, so my sequel would have a bigger number of views.  
2)I really want to start on this fanfic idea I had for Fairy Tail (a Natsu x Lucy with more pairings inside), that I want to try out  
3)I want to hone my writing a bit more, so that the sequel would be better than anything else that I've written before**

**With that, THANK YOU FOR READING THIS STORY OF MINE, _PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW  
_****&  
****MERRY CHRISTMAS~~**


End file.
